Dr. Seuss estate unlikely to be affected by scrapped books

Dr. Seuss’ publisher’s decision to stop selling some of his beloved books appears unlikely to put a dent in his estate’s bottom line.

The beloved children’s author born Theodor Seuss Geisel raked in $33 million last year, making him the world’s second-highest-paid dead celebrity behind music legend Michael Jackson, according to Forbes’ calculations.

Geisel’s posthumous earnings have reportedly skyrocketed from just $9.5 million five years ago as Dr. Seuss Enterprises — the company that decided to shelve six of his books that contained racist imagery — built a media empire that brought his iconic characters from the page to the screen.

Audrey Geisl, Dr. Seuss’s widow, established the firm in 1993, two years after the author died from cancer. She oversaw efforts to produce film and stage adaptations of her late husband’s popular works before her 2018 death, including the Jim Carrey-led “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

Seuss Enterprises has doubled down on its film and TV bets since CEO Susan Brandt took the helm in 2012, Forbes reports. Under her watch, the company reportedly inked a massive deal with Netf... (Read more)

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